Hetzner vs DigitalOcean
These are both servers you run yourself, not hosting that is run for you. Hetzner, a German company, gives the most compute for the money with no introductory pricing and little hand-holding. DigitalOcean, an American one, costs more per resource but adds first-rate documentation, managed databases and Kubernetes. Skilled teams chasing cost pick Hetzner; developers still learning pick DigitalOcean.
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Choose Hetzner ifyour team already knows Linux, wants the lowest cost per resource in German or Finnish data centres, and does not expect support to do more than answer precise questions.
Choose DigitalOcean ifyou are a developer who wants to predict the bill before deploying, learn from thorough documentation, and hand the database or Kubernetes to a managed service when that is worth paying for.
Hetzner and DigitalOcean side by side
| Hetzner | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Our web hosting rank | #1 of 18 | #9 of 18 |
| Established in | Germany | United States |
| Pricing | Per month, published; no introductory pricing | Per second by resource, capped at a monthly rate, published |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A technical team that wants the most compute per euro | A developer who wants predictable infrastructure pricing |
| Not for | A non-technical owner who needs hand-holding | A business with no technical staff |
Both are reviewed in full in our web hosting ranking: Hetzner and DigitalOcean.
Where they differ
Hetzner 1 · DigitalOcean 2 · open 1- 01
Compute for the money
Hetzner's whole case is price per resource: its rates make the American providers look like a different market, and the hardware does not cut corners. DigitalOcean's pricing is exceptionally clear and published per resource, but clarity is not the same as cheapness, and its managed add-ons narrow whatever advantage it has.
Edge: Hetzner
- 02
Documentation and learning curve
DigitalOcean's documentation is its quiet asset: it taught a generation of developers how to deploy and run servers. Hetzner assumes you arrive with that knowledge. Its support is competent, but it expects well-formed questions and will not manage the machine for you. For someone still building sysadmin skills the gap is real.
Edge: DigitalOcean
- 03
Managed services to fall back on
Both are unmanaged by default, so patching and security sit with you. The difference is what exists above the raw server. DigitalOcean sells solid managed databases and Kubernetes, at a price that is higher than it first looks. Hetzner has no managed layer to fall back on when something fails at an awkward hour.
Edge: DigitalOcean
- 04
Where the company and the servers are
Hetzner is a German company with German and Finnish data centres, which settles both latency for nearby visitors and the question of which law applies to the provider. DigitalOcean is an American company; our data does not list its regions. Whether jurisdiction or distance matters depends on your audience and sector.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
Neither works if nobody on the team can patch and secure a Linux server. Cloudways puts a managed layer on top of someone else's cloud, and Liquid Web sells managed servers with round-the-clock support for businesses that have outgrown shared hosting without a system administrator.
Hetzner or DigitalOcean: questions
3 answersIs Hetzner cheaper than DigitalOcean?
On cost per resource, yes: Hetzner is tagged as the lowest in our web hosting category and does not use introductory pricing, so the listed monthly rate is what you keep paying.
DigitalOcean publishes clear per-resource pricing too, but its managed add-ons add more than they appear to.
Do Hetzner and DigitalOcean manage the server for me?
No. Both are unmanaged: you are the system administrator. DigitalOcean offers managed databases and Kubernetes as paid extras, while Hetzner has no managed layer and its support answers precise questions without taking over the server. A business with no technical staff should look elsewhere.
Which has better support, Hetzner or DigitalOcean?
Hetzner's support is competent but self-service in spirit, and expects you to know what you are asking. For DigitalOcean our data highlights documentation rather than support staff, so a like-for-like verdict on support cannot be given. For self-help material, DigitalOcean is clearly stronger.